Alonso hoping for home Q3 appearance

Fernando Alonso is hopeful that he can reward his home fans by breaking into Q3 at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Alonso has not appeared in the final segment of qualifying since his return to McLaren in 2015, but the outfit has been on an upwards trajectory, with the Spaniard finishing the Russian Grand Prix in sixth place.

Alonso, who claimed his most recent Grand Prix victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya three years ago, is sure data from pre-season testing at the track will aid McLaren's progress.

"We’re still learning a lot about our package as we visit each track, so it’s useful that we already have a lot of data from testing there that we can use to understand its characteristics and how our car will react to them," he said.

"Our performance in qualifying is something we’re working on all the time, to give us the best chance in the race.

"Getting into Q3 will certainly be difficult at this track, but, with the Spanish fans behind me, that’s got to be our aim.

"As always, reliability is a priority first and foremost, but I hope that the upgrades we’ll test on Friday will see us continue to push race by race, and allow us to keep fighting towards the front alongside our rivals in the midfield."